


Black Sheep's Blessing

by gtanddragons



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Hurt/Comfort, Macro/Micro, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 20:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20476961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gtanddragons/pseuds/gtanddragons
Summary: Just some good ol' hurt/comfort with Gladion and Lillie. Takes place in the giant!Gladion AU. Also features Kukui learning about Lillie's black sheep of a brother, while being a Cool Dad(TM) on top of it all.





	Black Sheep's Blessing

**Author's Note:**

> Contains mild spoilers for the ending of Pokemon Su/Mo. Lillie is on her way to travel abroad.

_There. Just need to…_  
Lillie bites her lip and takes one last look at her old, worn Pokedoll before pushing it into her bag.  
_…This is really it, huh…?_  
“Lillie! Are you all ready to go?”

The girl blinks in surprise, startled from her thoughts, before hastily gathering her things and traipsing down the ladder to the ground floor. “Y-yes, Professor!”  
At the bottom of the ladder, she’s met with the familiar sight of the tall, usually carefree, Pokémon professor. He has a sad smile on his face.  
“Lillie… You know you don’t have to go, yeah?” Kukui questions, his tone bittersweet. “Burnett and I are more than happy to let you stay here, y’know.”  
She pauses, something within her wavering at the thought.  
_I could just stay here… I don’t have to leave them behind…_   
…  
_No. I have to go, no matter what. I have to learn more, to grow strong, so I can help Mother…_  
“I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done.” Lillie pauses. “For everything everyone’s done to help me. But…” She takes a breath before continuing. “I have to do this.”  
Kukui blinks, almost taken aback by the determination in Lillie’s eyes.  
And then his somber smile blossoms into a warm, understanding grin.  
“Alright, I get you. I won’t stop you, then… But you at least have to let me escort you to the ferry. Deal?”  
Lillie’s eyes widen before she shakily grins up at the man.  
“Deal.”  
The two head out the door, stepping outside into the warm Alolan air. Lillie sucks in a deep breath as she marches alongside the professor, absentmindedly wondering what Kanto would be like. According to her research, it was much more temperate there.  
_I hope Mother will be alright with that… Though, I hear it’s rather warm on Cinnabar Island this time of year-_  
Lost in her thoughts, Lillie almost doesn’t notice the ground rumbling beneath her feet. She only looks up when she hears Professor Kukui’s surprised gasp.  
“What the- tremors?” He mumbles to himself, looking around in concern. “Or maybe someone’s Pokemon is using the move Earthquake nearby…?”

  
_Thud._  
Lillie blinks, somewhat startled.  
**_Thud._**  
_Those… aren’t tremors._  
**_THUD!_**

  
Both the professor and Lillie have to tilt their heads back in order to look up at the towering figure before them. Kukui’s jaw slackens, a look of sheer disbelief on his face. The huge teen in front of them takes a deep breath before kneeling down, doing his best to maintain an aloof, calm expression.  
“Hello, Lillie.”  
The girl pauses before taking a step forward. She, too, bears a calm expression, but it’s laced with a tinge of uncertainty. “Gladion…”  
Kukui gulps, his eyes darting between the two children. “You two know each other?”  
Lillie pauses once again, glancing back at the professor. Her stoic demeanor wavers.   
“U-um! Well… Yes!” She clears her throat in embarrassment. “Right, you haven’t been properly introduced, ah- Professor, this is Gladion, my brother! Gladion, this is Professor Kukui!”  
Gladion blinks before slightly inclining his head. “Ah, I’ve heard about you and your research. Nice to meet you.”  
Kukui, still a bit alarmed at the presence of a giant at least ten times his size, hesitates before responding. “It- It’s good to meet you, Gladion! I… never even knew that Lillie here had a brother.”  
Another pause. The professor shoots Lillie a look that practically screams ‘why did you never tell me about this?’  
The professor, regaining some of his composure after the shock begins to wear off, straightens up a little.  
“…Would you two like to speak in private? I can lea-”  
Gladion responds rather abruptly, cutting the professor off. “Yes. That would be ideal.”  
Kukui blinks before nodding. The boy was certainly, well… _brusque_, but he could tell that the two would need some alone time.  
Mysterious older brother showing up out of the blue- a rather huge older brother, at that- dressed in dark, ragged clothing, the awkward tension between the two…  
Yes, they certainly would need plenty of alone time to work things out, that much the professor knew.  
“Lillie, I’ll head for the pier, alright?” The professor asks. “I can meet you there.”  
Lillie glances between her brother and Kukui, a tad concerned. “U-um, alright! Don’t worry, Professor, I won’t be long! I just…” She hesitates. “…I need to say goodbye.”  
The man nods, and, without another word, continues down the island trail.  
The girl closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. _Oh, what to say…?_  
“…So you really are leaving.”  
Lillie’s eyes snap back open, her emerald gaze trained on her big brother. There’s a small _thud_ as he sits down, knees drawn up to his chest.  
He looks almost defeated.  
“I had hoped that my suspicions would be wrong.”  
Lillie bites her lip, trying to ignore how it quivered, and how suddenly tight her throat was becoming.  
“Oh, Gladion…”  
He looks away from her, staring off into the distance.  
Lillie thinks she can hear her own heart breaking at the look on his face.  
She takes a step closer. And another. And yet another.  
The girl numbly rests her palm against Gladion’s exposed ankle, the torn fabric of his pants thankfully not covering that particular area. She doubts he’d be able to feel her touch otherwise.  
She can feel him flinch at the contact.  
“We parted ways two years ago,” he mumbles, still refusing to look down at her. “And, now that we’re finally back together, you’re leaving.”  
Lillie turns her own head to the side, biting her lip even more sharply. Her eyes are wide with uncertainty and despair, her resolve cracking under the pressure.  
“…Gl…”  
She abruptly clenches her fist, screwing her eyes shut. After taking a moment to breathe, she looks up at her brother, a rekindled flame burning in her eyes.  
“Gladion.” she states firmly.  
Now, that caught his attention. Usually, Lillie’s voice never sounded that bold, that self-assured…  
His gaze slowly returns to her. Two pairs of strong, green eyes make contact and lock.  
“I… I have to do this. I have to become stronger. To help Mother-”  
“She’s crazy,” Gladion snaps bitterly, cutting Lillie off. “Do you really think that growing stronger will cure her? Not only of the Nihilego neurotoxins, but also of her own insanity? Of what she did to us?”  
Lillie scowls before snapping in retaliation. “There’s only one way to find out! I can help her, Gladion! I…!”  
Her voice quivers.  
“I just… want her back. I’m going to try my best to help her get better.” She gulps before continuing. “I… I have to do this for myself, too. I can’t keep relying on my friends to save me all the time. I have to be strong, like them! Like… like you. Gladion, you and Null ran off two years ago, and now… you’ve gotten so much stronger. I want- no, I _need_\- to go out and do this for myself.”  
Lillie’s gaze quietly sinks towards the ground, staring at the plants at her feet.  
“So please, Gladion, I… I…”

  
She flinches in surprise at feeling a gentle pressure tilting her chin up. Gladion almost immediately pulls his fingertip away, but his hand still hesitantly hovers by his baby sister.  
“…I understand,” Gladion swallows thickly, running his free hand through his messy bangs. A weak smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he peers down at her.  
“Since when did you get all big and grown up, huh…?”  
Lillie’s eyes widen. A quiet sniffle escapes her before she moves to rub at her stinging eyes with the back of her arm.  
“…You grew a lot, too.” She pauses, her cheeks growing warm as she tilts her head back a little further to meet his gaze. “I-I meant, er, figuratively.”  
That, much to Lillie’s surprise, elicits a small chuckle from her brother.  
“Well,” he hums teasingly, “I’m pretty sure that I grew another ten feet or so over the last couple years. You’ve gotten taller, too… I’m pretty sure.”  
Lillie quietly snorts, playfully shoving at his finger with one hand and continuing to rub at her eyes with the back of her other hand. “You’re ridiculous.”  
“So are you.”  
Lillie pauses before squeezing his fingertip. “I promise that I’ll come back to Alola one day. And the first thing I do when I get back will be to come and see you.”  
Gladion hesitates before shifting his hand in order to lightly stroke Lillie’s hair back with his thumb.  
“…Good. And…”  
He pauses.  
“I’ll take care of the Aether Foundation while you and Mother are away. What she did, it… I’ll make sure that it never happens again.”  
A determined look enters his eyes,  
“We’ll make Aether better than it ever was before. So you’ll be able to look forward to that when you come home.”  
The girl listens intently before firmly nodding.  
“It’s a deal, then. We’ll both do our best!”  
She hesitates before continuing. “I’ll send you and everyone else letters, too, okay? W-well, I mean, I’ll try to write bigger so that you can see, and, er- we can call, too, I think! And- and-”  
Gladion suddenly cuts her off, a ghost of a lopsided grin growing on his face.   
“Ah, ah, Lillie, slow down. If you send letters, I’m sure that I can get Ms. Wicke to read them to me. And I think we might be able to set up a projector in the Aether building for if you video call me, alright? We’ll get everything all sorted out eventually.”  
Gladion glances down the path before looking back down at his sister. “Now, uh. Don’t you have a ferry to catch?”  
Lillie’s hand darts to her mouth in surprise, her eyes widening. “O-oh no! I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry!”  
Gladion pauses.  
And then he tentatively lowers his hand to rest, palm facing up, beside her. “…Would you like a ride? Just like old times?”  
Lillie blinks, her gaze darting from his proffered hand to his hopeful eyes.  
A smile lights up her face.  
“I’d love that, Gladion”  
She’s a bit out of practice, but it only takes her a moment to scramble up her brother’s fingers and perch in the palm of his hand. He slowly gets to his feet, bringing his hand closer to his chest and cupping his free hand in front of Lillie in order to keep her from falling.  
As Gladion begins to move, his long strides quickly carry them towards the Hau’oli marina, yet his footsteps are careful and calculated from years of practice.  
Lillie rests her head against the fabric of Gladion’s shirt. She pauses, taking a whiff; he smells like the outdoors- trees, grass, a hint of Alola’s tropical flowers- with a hint of wood smoke. And then she closes her eyes. It couldn’t hurt to rest them a little on the way there…  
After a minute or two of walking, Lillie quietly pipes up.  
“I missed you, Gladdy.”  
Gladion continues to march on, but he thinks he can feel a sharp tug on his heartstrings.

“…I missed you too, Lil.”


End file.
